[Rictor]

Exibit A:
Senate Bill bans P2P networks

"In the film 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,' the leering 'Child Catcher' lured children into danger with false promises of 'free lollipops,'" said Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. "Tragically, some corporations now seem to think that they can legally profit by inducing children to steal; that they can legally lure children and others with false promises of 'free music.'"

"An early version of the IICA seen by CNET News.com was called the Inducement Devolves into Unlawful Child Exploitation Act, or Induce Act. The final version appears to be identical. "

"Florida businesses and residents -- and even some officials in the Florida Department of Revenue -- agree that the wording of the law is too broad"

Exibit B:
Florida to tax home networks

"Jessica Litman, a professor at Wayne State University who specializes in copyright law, said the language was "worded so broadly" that it would put Web sites such as Tucows, which hosts peer-to-peer clients like the Morpheus software, at risk for "inducing" infringement. "

Exibit C:
Senate says: Film bootlegers should get jail time.

And guess who's at the bottom of the p2p legislation? That right, Orrin "Lets Blow up Filesharer's Computers" Hatch, the ultra-conservative Republican who just so happens to be recieving tons of money from Hollywood interests. But lets not forget our friends the Democrats, without who's help this bipartisan affair could not have taken place. Not to mention the other two articles, notably the third one, which was unanimously passed.

Every piece of legislation that gets put through for the sake of corporate profits is touted as "protecting children". Seriously, its like Helen Lovejoy (Simpsons folks, she's the Revernd's wife) got elected to the Senate.

Think of the children!!

Also note the pattern of these bills being "worded too broadly", which seems to be in fashion these days, allowing the government a virtual carte blanche. I guess laws don't mean anything specific things anymore, thats outdated, they're just a dragnet wide enough to mean whatever the government decides it wants t to mean.

[WMCoolmon]

WTF is this?

Has the US government officially decided that Progress is Bad, and to limit it every way they could?

The P2P stuff I can somewhat understand, but surely I'm not the only one who thinks this Florida bill is a blatant effort to grab money.

[an0n]

You missed out the one saying that from now on companies have to have huge neon signs telling you they're installing spyware on your computer.

I'm all for bashing the government, but only when done in the proper context.

[jdjtcagle]

p2p? I thought they were already illegal?

[WMCoolmon]

The networks themselves aren't, just most of what people distribute.

[jdjtcagle]

So does this mean Bit Torrent is now illegal?

[WMCoolmon]

Reading the article, it looks like the bill hasn't been passed yet (The title implies it to get more view, prolly).

[IceFire]

Originally posted by an0n
You missed out the one saying that from now on companies have to have huge neon signs telling you they're installing spyware on your computer.

I'm all for bashing the government, but only when done in the proper context.

Doesn't mean that they won't keep trying to do it secretly...and the same goes for the other.

I'll still be running Ad-Aware on a weekly basis.

Its really unfortunate that the governments currently in power are seemingly several generations too far out of date to even understand the possibilities, technologies, and the social capabilities that the internet and other new network style technologies are producing.

Are these laws passed or are they still in the works.  They sound far too draconian for even some of the more radicalists to try and encourage.

[Stealth]

yeah, that's right

[Rictor]

Hey, here's an idea, read the articles. That might provide some information, but then again, maybe not.

Senate Bill bans p2p networks

If the IICA were to become law, "let's say that you're selling an MP3 player and it turns out that the MP3 player can be used to move copyrighted material around really easily," Godwin said. "People start buying your MP3 player. Do you want a world where courts can say, 'Hey buddy, you're liable for copyright infringement?'"

Not passed yet, but apparently it enjoys widespread support, which leads me to believe it will pass.

Florida to tax home networks

Florida state officials are considering taxing home networks that have more than one computer, under a modified 1985 state law that was intended to tax the few businesses that used internal communication networks instead of the local telephone company.

So, the law is already in existence, but they are considering using it to apply to new circumstances, which is in effect the same as a new law.

Senate to throw film bootleggers in jail:

In the House of Representatives, a similar bill was approved by a subcommittee in March. Differences between the two bills were minimal and could be easily resolved, Cornyn said in a statement.

Self explainitory.

edit: too draconian? ha! you obviously don't know who you're dealing with. Orrin Hatch actually proposed, on record, that the government should have the right (not to mention that he assumed it had the ability) to remotely blow up the computers of filesharers. He later retracted the statement after it, rightly so, made him look like a madman, but the intent is quite clear.

[Knight Templar]

Meh, Florida is full of tards' anyway. Ad rich, old people.

[Stealth]

don't you live in Florida?

EDIT:  sorry... its California... i knew that.  i always confuse them because both their beaches are kickass

[Knight Templar]

Indeed.

[Stealth]

kthx

[Rictor]

update: the Let Throw Bootleggers in Prison with Murders and Rapists as their Cellmates Bill has passed. For up to 10 years. Yeah, that right, 10 years for bootlegging a movie. Great, another victory for Hollywood, another loss for everyone else.

Technologists and copyright activists were most alarmed by the Induce Act, backed by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who in the past five years has received $158,000 in campaign contributions from the television, movie and music industries, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Ooops..

and then we have another piece of legislative work, from our good friend Orrin Hatch and his Democrat sidekick Patrick Leahy.

Introduced by Hatch and Leahy, the Pirate Act (officially called the Protecting Intellectual Rights Against Theft and Expropriation Act) amends copyright law to allow the attorney general to file civil lawsuits against people accused of file trading. Currently, the government can only file criminal infringement cases, which require a higher burden of proof than civil cases.

[Knight Templar]

Goddamnit. I don't have the ****ing money to start paying for things legally. I don't have the money to pay for getting caught stealing either. ****.

[Liberator]

Such as this is why politics is a game for the middleaged.  They have enough life-experience to weed out the junk and aren't as liable to lose their tempers and make enormous $$$$-ups that kill the world.  Nor are they too old to keep up with new trends in technology which what these bills represent.

I propose a minimum age for Elected Office of 35 and a Maximum age of 65.

A maximum Service period of 2 consecutive terms for all offices with a restriction on campaigning to a period not more than 8 months prior to the Election Day.

Should an occupant reach the maximum age they should serve out their current term.

I am sick of ****ing geriatrics make key decisions in matters that they are unqualified in.  Intellectual property is a joke unless you have tons of money and 2 dozen lawyers on retainer.

[Rictor]

How about the following test:

If you want to make policy regarding technology, you must pass the test, other wise, no go.

Connect to the Internet. Do a Google search for a word of your choice. Open any of the resulting websites in a new window. Now, copy any portion of the text on that website, create a new email message, paste the text in, and mail it to yourself.

Pass or fail, and they are not told what the test is going to be ahead of time. Just to ensure that no one leaks the test info, create several different test of similar difficulty. Its all basic stuff, its not like they're being asked to create Access Control Lists or anything.

[Rictor]

Originally posted by Liberator
Such as this is why politics is a game for the middleaged.  They have enough life-experience to weed out the junk and aren't as liable to lose their tempers and make enormous $$$$-ups that kill the world.  Nor are they too old to keep up with new trends in technology which what these bills represent.

I propose a minimum age for Elected Office of 35 and a Maximum age of 65.

A maximum Service period of 2 consecutive terms for all offices with a restriction on campaigning to a period not more than 8 months prior to the Election Day.

Should an occupant reach the maximum age they should serve out their current term.

I am sick of ****ing geriatrics make key decisions in matters that they are unqualified in.  Intellectual property is a joke unless you have tons of money and 2 dozen lawyers on retainer.

Thats actually a good idea. Personally, 8 years is a bit too much for me, a lot can happen in that time. I would make it a two-term limit, but make one term last 3 years. That way, if they're not doing a good job, they get the boot. Thats actually the way the Founding Fathers originally intended it to be. They never intended to have career politcians, just normal Joes who would serve their time in office and then move on. It ensure thats no one gets power-hungry and tried to obtrain undue influence.

Oh and, 8 months is a long time to campaing. Over here in Canada, its less than two months, closer to a month. I think that a politicians's actions should speak for themselves. Campaigning is all just a facade anyway, you know, kissing hands and shaking babies, so a politician should convince the people during his time in office, not on the campaign trail.

[Black Wolf]

And the true beauty is, it'll be unenforceable outside the US. Sucks to be you lot.